Old Mole Variety Hour

The Old Mole burrows down to the roots of the great issues of our time – the struggles of ordinary people for democratic and sustainable ways of life. The Mole goes where corporate media fear to tread, supporting grassroots challenges to top-down authority and giving voice to movements that shake the foundations of an unjust society. The Moles' perspective is democratic, broadly socialist, and feminist. (We count Karl Marx as a friend).

Clayton Morgareidge hosts this action packed show covering the situation in Syria, the Pacific Northwest Labor History Conference coming up in Portland, getting over and beyond consumerism as the basis for social life, and gun violence and gun legislation.

Movie Moles review the new Jackie Robinson biopic, 42. For those too young to remember, Robinson was a pioneering black baseball player for the Dogers, a member of the Republican Party, and collaborater with HUAC in the 1950s.

Well-read Red, Alan Wieder commerates the 20th Anniversiary of the assassination of South African freedom fighter and communist Chris Hani.

The Left and the Law discuss Oregon prisons and punitive laws in response to budget crises.

Audio

Joe Clement and Iven Hale review Selma, the widely acclaimed biopic about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma to Montgomery marches he helped organize in 1965, which aimed to draw attention to racial domination still alive after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. David Oyelowo plays Martin Luther King in a screenplay written and directed by Ava Duvernay. The movie moles consider the film's merits and question the limits its story-telling place on MLK's legacy and intersectional point of view when it came to fighting racism, materialism, and militarism.

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Bill Resnick talks with Leo Panitch about the electoral victory in Greece of the anti-austerity party Syriza. Although they will likely fulfill their promises to restore health care, to reinstate collective bargaining and workers’ basic rights, to raise the minimum wage, and to reconnect people to the electricity grid, more thorough resistance to the Eurozone is uncertain. Still, their victory provides a model for organizing for the long haul and testament to the need to take state power.

Johanna Brenner joins Mike Snedecker to discuss Oregon's state laws that preempt cities or other localities from raising the minimum wage or passing inclusive zoning laws that would require developers to provide affordable housing. Those interested in raising the minimum wage might contact 15NowPdx; those interested in inclusive zoning might contact the Coalition for Affordable and State Housing, at 503-776-0460. [image by ZehnKatzen]

Frann Michel talks with volunteer activist Hyung Nam of Health Care for All Oregon about health care as a human right, what's wrong with the Affordable Care Act, why we need single payer (Medicare for all), and the rally coming up February 11 in Salem.

Iven Hale hosts this episode of the Old Mole, with segments on Greek elections, the campaign for single-payer health care in Oregon, anarchist poetry, and challenging state legal preemptions of local attempts to raise the minimum wage or demand affordable housing in new developments. To listen to the whole show, use the play button below; for individual segments use the links. Please friend or follow us on Facebook or twitter, contact us via oldmolevarietyhour < a > gmail.com if you'd like to get involved with us. And please click the tip jar above to join or give to KBOO!

Bill Resnick hosts this episode, with the music of Phil Ochs, and segments on Charlie Hebdo, the Greek left, Teach for America, Studs Terkel, Property and the police state. Find us on Facebook or Twitter, and friend or follow us for updates and other stuff we like to share. Send us comments, suggestions, questions, or your ideas for contributions you'd like to make at oldmolevarietyhour-at--gmail-dot-com. To hear the whole show, click on the play button below. For individual segments, follow these links:

Bill Resnick talks with David Finkel about the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the clash of barbarisms. They note that free speech is not a western value (as evidenced by the attacks on Julian Assange and James Risen); that the US has been complicit in journalists's deaths in Mexico, Indonesia and elsewhere; and that the US bears responsibility also for supporting Saudi Arabia, which supports and funds jihadists.
[image by Mpayot]

It's convenient to have the Old Mole audio files available.
Even more useful for some of us would be transcripts of the commentaries (Clayton Morgareidge). Written material allows a person a chance to review, consider, digest and refer to mentioned references & thinkers. The "Well Read Red" commentary from 4 Aug 08 is a good example of a piece I'd like to read at my own pace.